Lafayette vs American University

Parents Forum
1

S20 is down to these 2 choices for the moment.

He is a good but not excellent student. B+ average overall, very strong in math and weaker in humanities. Not sure what he wants to study yet, would start in math + economics at Lafayette and in math/statistics at AU. He has never seen Lafayette but he is sure that it is the best community and social fit for him (knows a couple students there and the rest is from on line research).

As parents we feel that AU is the safer choice but Lafayette is the more exciting one (for him). We think that academic expectations may start higher at Lafayette and we worry, frankly, that S20 may not be able to keep up. We’ve heard AU starts slower and has students with a wider variety of academic abilities. His study skills are improving with time, but are not ideal. His interest in school is more out of duty than intellectual curiosity.

We feel that AU offers more majors and options such as business, communications (another vague interest of his) or even education (career as a math teacher?). If he doesn’t like math/economics at Lafayette, there might not be other appropriate majors for him.

Right now his heart is at Lafayette and he says he thinks he can handle it. We are certainly willing to have faith in him and support him. But these are both very expensive schools and we cannot afford extra semesters or wasted time. Nor can we afford for him to graduate without a career plan of some sort.

Any other parents/kids like this out there?

2

@TimesFlies2 - I originally committed to Lafayette last year. Great school. I was offered a space from the waitlist at Bucknell. I ultimately chose Bucknell because it had a business school (Freeman College of Management) and I loved the campus. Bucknell and Lafayette are similar. I don’t know much about American but I think it has a totally different vibe. Both are great schools but I think your son should go with where he feels most comfortable. If he got into Lafayette he can handle it. My friend goes to Lafayette and she loves it.

3

One approach is to have him tell you how he plans to monitor his progress (e.g., look at his Learning Management System for his grades), and how specifically he would get help (maybe even before he thinks he needs it)…e.g., Professor office hours, study groups, tutors, help centers, etc.

4

@TimeFlies2 Which school did S20 end up choosing?

6

OP is long gone. If they return and want to answer the question, I’ll reopen the thread.